When the need of the hour is smart thinking, swift action and effective people skills – can we develop these qualities more effectively in an experiential setting than through classroom training.

1. www.martupdate.com64 November 2015 www.martupdate.com 65November 2015
When the need of the hour is smart thinking, swift action and effective people skills
– can we develop these qualities more effectively in an experiential setting than
through classroom training.
Outbound, Indeed!
Pavan Sriram
pavan@ittige.com
TALENT MANAGEMENT
and blithely overlook their
weaknesses. The few that
talk about their weaknesses
tend to bury the same
under a mass of perceived
strengths. Additionally, in
unfamiliar environments and
unpredictable situations,
stretched beyond their normal
comfort zones, people tend
to lose their inhibitions, shed
their masks and become more
receptive to learning. In the
environment thus created,
it becomes possible for an
experienced facilitator to
identify strengths and trouble
areas, and suggest new coping
behaviour.
Outbound Training (OBT)
have been found to be
predominantly valuable in most
business skills that engross
The proverb “A chain is only
as strong as its weakest link”
is very relevant to most
organizations, teams and
businesses globally today.
This stems from the fact
that most professionals tend
to highlight their strengths
interpersonal relationships,
conviction and bonding,
communication of shared
vision and goals, stimulus,
behaviour alteration in
response to transform, and
individual effectiveness. While
studying a skill, the learners
can be thrown into an outside
environment which is really
helpful to the learner to
interact among themselves
to reproduce what they
assimilate. After spending
a few hours in an outdoor
situation, research has proved
that team members tend to
bond together in a way that is
impossible in an urban office
atmosphere with its attendant
worries and stress.
Learners are usually divided
into teams and assigned tasks
or activities for completion in
a specified time. Achievement
and performance during
the activities is reviewed in
group discussions to identify
behaviours that enhance
performance or lead to failure
or decreased performance.
Strategies are formulated to
deal with factors that hamper,
and these strategies are then
put to use in the activities
that follow, to trial on their
effectiveness.
The concept of using
the outdoors as a tool in
management training was first
developed in the 1940’s by
Dr. Kurt Hahn, a philosopher
outdoorsman who believed
that the outdoors has many
lessons for city people which
will enhance their personal
thresholds as well as group
thresholds. It was Dr.
Hahn’s belief that advancing
civilizations and technology
were depriving many persons
the opportunities to develop
self-reliance, physical fitness
and a compassion for others.
An established corporate
training tool in western
countries, OBT is gaining
increasing popularity in India
today as many corporate
houses are discovering its
ability to solve a number
of issues that cannot be
completely addressed in
classroom training situations.
The most obvious - and
immediate - benefits of OBT is
a building up of interpersonal
relationships, trust and
bonding.
While organizations look to
foster the hidden potential,
personality traits and team
spirit when they send out
individuals from varied
roles and departments to
experiential learning, we at
ITTIGE Learning have been
working with clients to
develop, sharpen and fine-
tune the behavioural skills
and qualities of employees
and bring out latent facets of
one’s personality.Whether you
are doing a team-building or
leadership outbound activity,
we believe your OBT’s should
possibly have the following
outcomes:
• Building in Self-Confidence
and Team Bonding in
individuals.
• Develop, Sharpen and Fine-
tune the behavioural skills of
your employees and also the
mutual trust and understanding
between members of a group.
• Generate fresh ideas and
better attitudes which act as a
trigger to reconsider existing
work related attitudes.
• Team-members working for
the betterment of the team.
• Employees who work
together to the fulfilment of a
larger objective to achieve the
organisation’s mission.
• Gain powerful and immediate
insights into their work
situation, bond & relate
better with peers and team-
members. Inculcate leadership
& delegation qualities, enable
them to take calculated
risk, plan, execute and
communicate better.
I look forward to hear from you
at pavan@ittige.com on how
you are encouraging teamwork
and thinking out of the box but
also being strategic and going
about accomplishing goals and
targets.
Pavan Sriram is the Founder
and CEO of ITTIGE Learning, a
performance-based training
company that works with c-level
executives to improve learning
outcomes.Working together increases bonding
Explore Business Simulation that can drive Learning